Angels
by persian85033
Summary: Short story, it's a prequel to MtRF. A little more as an inside on Fahriha. R & R.
1. Chapter 1

"It'll help me a little bit."said Jacinta. "What color do you suppose this flower should be?"she asked. "I was thinking white, but I thought, I've already done the white. Do you think another color will fit it?"

"I suppose so."

"No, you don't think so, do you?"

Nereida shook her head.

"No."

"Oh, well, we'll do the white then."Jacinta answered.

"You always do everything in such an order."replied Jovita.

"It makes me feel comfortable."

Jovita rolled her eyes.

"I don't know where you got that from."

"It's just easier. And much faster."she said.

"Right."

"For some reason, it just...makes me feel...so...bored."said Jovita. "I think I want to...I don't know...something."she said.

"I'm tired of sewing everyday."Fahriha was saying.

"Me, too. If you wan to know the truth."

"But we must."

"I suppose so."

"My brothers never have to sew."

"Didn't you say it was because they were boys?"

"They are."

"At least you'll get to get out of here every now and then."

"I can't. Only...well, never anymore, actually! I'm a princess, not a prince."

Malaika smiled.

"You're something, at least."she said. "Everyone else here, has no chance to get out of here. You will, I suppose."

They giggled.

"I hope so."Fahriha sighed. "I wonder what it would be like."

"Like inside."

"Do you remember anything from before you came here?"

Malaika frowned.

"I remember that we wore very bright colors. And our skirts were kind of shorter. And we didn't wear veils."

Fahriha looked shocked.

"At least, I can't remember seeing anyone with a veil over their face. No one."

"You're remembering the men!"Fahriha said.

"No, the women, too. And some would dress in black."she nodded.

"Black?"

"I think that was...a...I can't exactly remember. She was...older. Well, most of them were. Only some of the older women wore black. But we didn't leave without someone else."

"A khuddam."said Fahriha, nodding.

"No. I don't think so. It was a girl."

"A girl?"she asked.

"Yes. I don't recall ever being around men, either. They made us keep to ourselves. Except, I think for one. But I can't remember so well. Let me see...I always recall that there were two others, and they would sometimes confuse us."

"An entire harem, with only three?"

"I don't recall ever living in a harem. It was somewhat like a harem sometimes, but they were all dressed in the same way, and we addressed them as Mother, or Sor."

"The same."

"Yes, it was...I think a dark color...oh, yes, and they were the only ones who wore veils, but not to cover their faces, only their heads."

Fahriha put down her embroidery to listen. She loved to listen to her friend's stories of a distant land, before she came to the royal harem.


	2. Chapter 2

Iago sat on Genie's shoulder, while Genie inspected Fahriha's embroidery.

"Where was your mind?"he asked.

"I've seen better."said Iago.

Genie sighed.

"You certainly can't let your father think that you're mind is wandering off somewhere. He'll think it's not a good place, and...we know what he's like. So, we redo the stitches."

Genie waved his hands, and then, the stitches were perfect.

"Muchbetter."he said.

"Right, and the Kid will probably see the difference."said Iago.

"Do you think so, Iago?"asked Fahriha.

Malaika shoved a cracker down Iago's throat. Iago spat it out.

"This is just humiliating!"he exclaimed. "And to top it all of, it isn't the granddaughter, but the friend."

He flew away.

"That takes care of him."said Genie. "Now, class is over."he said. "Gotta go. The boys have a few more lessons to go through before the day is over."

They giggled.

"You always make Iago mad."said Fahriha.

Malaika shrugged.

"It's fun. He's pretty funny when he's mad."

They giggled again.

"And now we can go swimming."

"Did you have a parrot before you came here?"asked Fahriha.

"No. We didn't. We didn't have pets. We did a lot of embroidery, though."said Malaika. "For the same reason. I lived with my grandmother, and two sister. Would you believe that they were just like me? They could never tell us apart."

She smiled.

"Really?"

"Yes. And she would tell us that we had to learn to do the embroidery right, because that way, we would make good wives. Something like that."

"You knew your grandmother?"

"Yes."

"I didn't know mine."

"Well, she was older than us, of course. And older than everyone's mother."

"Didn't you know your mother?"

"No."said Malaika.

"Didn't you live in your father's harem?"

"I don't think it was a harem. At least it wasn't like here. We lived in a big house, not as big as the palace, and we went outside, whenever we pleased."

"Outside!"

"Of course."

"I could never do that."

"Well, most of the time, our grandmother would come with us."said Malaika.

"It would be...what was it like? Did you see a lot of people?"

"Sometimes. People, especially ladies would come and greet us, and they'd come over, too. Ladies and gentlemen. Especially ladies. My grandmother loved to talk to them. And they'd have cake and tea. And we'd visit them, too."

Fahriha looked astonished. It was such a strange land her friend came from. That girls could leave whenever they pleased. And they could venture outside, and greet strange people. Fahriha knew she could never do something like that. And even if her father would allow it, she couldn't. She sometimes wondered what it would be like, but always decided that it would be much too scary. She liked it better to take classes from Genie, anyway. He always made her work right, and her father was always pleased with what he saw.

"And you just went without a veil."she said.

Malaika nodded.

"No veil. We did wear hats, though. Grandmother said that it was because no respectable woman went outside without a hat, because it would ruin your skin."

"Did it ruin?"

Malaika frowned.

"I think the women who didn't wear them, the girls who followed us, well, they did seem to have darker skin than us."

"A lot of girls in the harem do."

"Well, yes, but they waited on us."

"Like the maids."

"Yes."

"But not all the maids are dark."

"Not here, but most of them, yes."


	3. Chapter 3

"I'm going to be allowed to go outside for my brother, Ilyas's birthday!"said Fahriha.

"That's nice. How did you ever manage to convince your father?"

"It's my brother's birthday."she said.

Malaika nodded.

"How old is he going to be?"

"He's going to be seventeen."Fahriha told her.

"Well, you'll have to tell me everything, Malaika told her."

"I feel depressed."said Jovita.

Jacinta looked up.

"I feel...sad for myself, but, it's like I'm happy for someone else."Jacinta answered.

Jovita nodded.

"Yes, that's just what I feel."

Malaika walked around. She was glad that Fahriha would be going to her brother's party. She rarely got to see her brothers, anyway. Her father was just so overprotective. She just wished she could be going, also, but she wasn't a princess, and she had no brothers. At least none here.

"Oh, wow. She's very nice, Grandmother."said Jacinta.

"I love it!"said Jovita.

They always liked when they're grandmother gave them gifts, even though she did it often. They immediately cheered up. Malaika smiled.

"You're not sad anymore."said Fahriha.

Malaika looked up.

"Sad? I wasn't sad."she said.

"You looked like you were."said Fahriha.

"I was...just thinking."

"Oh. What were you thinking about?"

"Nothing, really. What could I think about?"

Fahriha shrugged.

"You could think about lots of neat things."she said to Malaika. "You come from such an odd land."

Malaika smiled.

"Well, it wasn't odd when I lived there. But now that you mention it, and I live here, yes, it does seem like it's odd, doesn't it?"

"We're supposed to go and work on our embroidery."said Fahriha. "What do you think I should wear for Ilyas's birthday?"

"You'll be wearing veils, won't you?"said Malaika.

"Well...yes."

"So it won't make much of a difference, I guess."

Fahriha sighed.

"You're right."

"Look, come here."Malaika told her. "See, you can wear these. I just embroidered on them, just to for something to do, but the veils are nice. You can wear them."

Fahriha tried them on.

"They're nice. At least nicer than the ones I have. I hope my father will let me wear them."

"They're veils."said Malaika.

One of the maids walked in, and told Malaika that Jasmine wanted to see her.

"Me? Don't you mean, Fahriha?"she asked.

"No. She said you."

"Why would Mom want to talk to you?"asked Farhiha.

"I'm not sure. But I'll have to go."she said, and they walked outside.

"Malaika."said Jasmine. "As you know, Ilyas will be turning seventeen."she said.

"Um, yes. Fahriha told me."

"Well, obviously Fahriha will be coming with us, but I want you to come also."

"Me?"

"Of course. I've chosen you. You are, after all, Fahriha's best friend, and out of everyone here, I know you best."she said. "So, you will be presented to him."


	4. Chapter 4

"I don't like this one."said Malaika, as they sat by the flower beds a few days later.

"You're not liking anything today."said Fahriha.

"I know. I just feel so...sad, and angry."she said. "I'm just tired of it, you know!"she exclaimed. "I just...just don't want to be changing from one feeling to another, just for no good reason! I wish I knew what happened."

Jovita cried, as she read a letter. She knew that she had no reason to cry, after all, it was only to be expected. She always knew it would happen. Her grandmother certainly wouldn't always be with them, she knew, but...she was all they had.

Jacinta walked around the house. She was angry that her grandmother had died. They had buried her that same morning. It just wasn't fair! She knew that.

"You're just weird."said Iago, as he swallowed most of the fruit.

"And you're just a pig."said Malaika.

"I'm a parrot."

"Do you think Genie might know something?"Fahriha asked him.

"Hmm, the Genie's more concerned about keeping you under lock and key, and how to make sure your brothers make your dad proud, than about your friend."Iago told Fahriha.

"Can't you ask him? He knows more than everyone here."

"Maybe, but the Genie doesn't listen to me. He pays more attention to the Rug and the Monkey."

"Poor Iago."sighed Fahriha.

"Well, they certainly feed you guys better over here, than over there. And it's never good to fly on an empty stomach."he said. "Gotta go. I think it's almost time for the an afternoon snack."

And he flew off.

"He left me no pineapple."said Malaika.

"He says they don't really let him eat over there. So I let him come over here."Fahriha told her.

"I'm sure he eats plenty."

"Of course, because we let him."said Fahriha.

"Oh, well, I suppose you're right."

"My brother's used to be mean to him, you know."

"Oh, well, at least he can be fun."

"He says funny things sometimes, doesn't he, Malaika."

"Yes. Well, I guess I could use a little tea or something to help cheer me up."

Fahriha smiled.

"A raspberry one."

"Yes."

And they went to get the teacups.

"Maybe if we told Carpet, or Abu."suggested Fahriha.

"Carpet? Abu? Abu might tell Genie."

"Yeah. At least Iago never tells anyone."

"Yeah, Abu told you dad about the time when you said you wanted to go to the kitchen to get some bananas."said Malaika.

Although neither girl knew that it had actually been Iago the one who had told Aladdin about that, by letting it slip out.

"Well, maybe Abu just thought it would be something Dad might like to know."

"I still wouldn't trust that monkey anymore!"

"Well...I'm sure he meant well, you know, Malaika."

Malaika rolled her eyes.

"If you say so. But still..."

"Did anyone ever tell someone about something you wanted to do?"Fahriha asked Malaika.

"Other than Abu, you mean?"

"Yes."

"Well...let's see...no, I don't think so..."

"Is that why you don't like Abu anymore?"

"Yes. I mean, they were only bananas."

"He said I could have just asked for them. That I shouldn't be leaving for any reason."


End file.
